Accident
by matrixaffiliate
Summary: He was horrible to her, but she never meant for it to end like this. Post Deathly Hallows Oneshot featuring Hermione and Draco. Rated T. Everything belongs to JKR.


**Accident**

 **A/N: This is not Dramione! :) A post-Deathly Hallows Oneshot featuring Hermione and Draco. Rated T. Everything belongs to JKR.**

Hermione held the wand tightly in her hand. Draco Malfoy stood in the ruins of Hogwarts, his wand tip held to the temple of a child, an arm wrapped around the boy's shoulders.

"If you call out I'll kill him," Draco said fiercely, but tears streamed down his face. The child whimpered quietly, his eyes pleading for help.

"Draco," Hermione said quietly. "Draco you must be feeling very angry and upset. Let the boy go and we'll talk."

"No!" He gripped the boy tighter.

"Draco. I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help. Let me help you. Let go of the boy and I can help you."

Draco cried harder, his grip on the boy firmly in place.

"I want it to end Hermione! I want it to stop! I can't live like this!"

"Draco." Hermione took a cautious step forward, which he either didn't notice or didn't mind. "Draco, you're telling me that you're overwhelmed. You feel like life is too much and you want the hurt to stop."

Draco took a shuddering breath. "Kill me, Hermione. Please. Just make the pain stop. I can't do it myself. Please. Kill me before someone else does."

Hermione starred with pity in her eyes at the broken man in front of her. "Draco, no one wants to kill you, especially me. Why don't we get you some food and a place to sleep? Things will be better after you've eaten and had some time to rest." She took another step closer. She could almost grab the boy; she just needed to keep him talking.

"I can make you kill me!" He almost screamed. "I have the hostage and you value his life more than mine! I can force your hand!" And he raised his wand, aiming it at the child's head.

Fearing for the boy's life, Hermione moved with lightning speed and jumped forward, grabbing the child before throwing a shield between them and Draco so strong, it knocked them all to the ground. Rolling with the precision of a trained warrior, Hermione hid the child behind a large pile of rubble before going on the offensive to capture Draco.

"Kill me!" He screamed as he threw curses at her.

"Draco! Stop! It doesn't need to be this way!" Hermione yelled back, easily parrying his strikes.

"Hermione they'll kill me if you don't!"

She was beginning to press him, but she was careful not to make him do anything brash. "No one is going to kill you Draco. The war is over and Voldemort is gone. You're safe now."

"You don't understand! The Death Eaters blame my family for all of the failures! They'll torture us and mangle us and then kill us! Save me, Hermione! Kill me, quick and painless!"

"Draco." She was getting closer to him; his attacks had become less and less powerful as his hopelessness began affecting his ability. "We won't let anyone hurt you. That's what we were all fighting for. Everything is going to be alright."

"Show some bloody mercy on me, Hermione! Kill me!"

"Draco. We won't let anything happen to you or your family. Remember you didn't give us away at the Manor and you could have. Your mum helped to save us all in the forest; we won't repay her with nothing."

And then Draco's face took on a look of utter horror and he threw a curse with such force that at their close proximity it broke through her shield. Hermione's lightning reactions sent a large piece of wall to intercept it when it was mere inches from hitting her. The wall exploded into large fragments and shards that went flying in every direction, dust filling the air and their lungs.

Blown back by its force, Hermione hit the ground hard. Slightly dazed it took her a moment to realize that Draco's attacks had stopped. Cautiously, Hermione approached where Draco had been attacking her from. Stepping carefully over the newly created rubble, Hermione was struck with horror at what she found. Broken, bloodied, and with eyes staring blankly into the sky lay Draco Malfoy.

"No." She said quietly. "No." Louder this time as she dropped to her knees next to his lifeless form. "No!" Screaming as her chest tightened and hot tears tracked down the dust covering her face. "No!" Wailing again and again as guilt ripped through her like a jagged knife. "No!" Sobbing, breaths coming shallow and fast as she began to feel sick. "No!"

Then there was a hand on her arm, shaking her mercilessly. "Hermione wake up! It's a nightmare again! It's not real! Wake up!"

Hermione shot bolt right into Ginny's outstretched arms, sobbing in quick breaths as she slowly came to wakefulness.

The Battle of Hogwarts had been just over two weeks ago, and Hermione was staying at the Burrow while she made plans with Ron, Harry, and Ginny to go find her parents in Australia.

"Do you want to talk about it or would you like me to fetch Ron?" Ginny asked soothingly as she stroked Hermione's hair.

Hermione took a shuddering breath as she relaxed in her friend's embrace. "I killed Draco while we were cleaning up at Hogwarts. He had taken a little boy hostage to try and force me to kill him. I accidentally killed him deflecting a curse."

Ginny pulled away and spoke in her best imitation of Hermione's matter of fact tone. "Draco is alive, and thanks to what you, Harry, and Ron told Kingsley, he's probably going to be given a second chance. He's even going to be getting mandatory professional help, so I'd say that you did whatever the opposite of accidentally killing him is." Ginny then gave her a mischievous and teasing smile. "Technically, I think the opposite of that is an accidental pregnancy."

Hermione pushed Ginny away playfully and made a retching sound. "No son of mine would be allowed to become a Death Eater that's for damn sure!" And she laughed at the humorous turn the conversation had taken.

Ginny laughed and gave her a hug. "Feel like you can sleep now or do you want Ron to kiss it better?"

Hermione gave her a wink. "I think I'll make Harry find someplace else to sleep and commandeer the room for myself and Ron. Think you could help Harry find somewhere else to spend the rest of the night?"

Ginny smiled wickedly. "I'm sure I can find some place."


End file.
